Sister Fernande Pelletier

Sister Fernande Pelletier was born in Fort Kent, Maine. After making her First Vows in 1951, she attended Trinity College and Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C. She then completed her internship and surgical residency at St. Francis Hospital in Trenton, N.J. Her first mission overseas was in 1961 to Holy Family Hospital, Berekum, Ghana, for six years. Sister Fernande then was transferred to a District Medical Hospital in Kiri, Zaire. In 1970 she returned to Berekum, where she still works today. Initially Sister served as the hospital’s only doctor and was called upon to perform everything from surgery to helping with basic sanitary needs. Sister Fernande also traveled to many remote areas of Ghana to care for those with no access to a doctor. Today, she continues her ministry at Holy Family Hospital, with a focus on the isolation ward and outpatient area. Her lifetime of service to the sick and poor has been recognized by the Vatican. In 2007 she received a Papal Award from the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana.